Just £763 here, although I think they charge £80 for delivery. Please with this tv never get attached to the stand in the pictures as it comes with 3 different stands.

The latest versions of the stand have just the one shelf as in Argos, but there are others that come with 3 shelves as in link I have provided (getting a little rare now), and also there is a pedestal trype stand out there somewhere, but these were only released for a short period of time and are very rare now.

I ordered one a while ago expecting 3 shelves but it only came with one. But it's such a large tv one stand is quite ok.

23rd Aug 2006

SAFC1BeerMonster

Just £763 here, although I think they charge £80 for delivery. Please w … Just £763 here, although I think they charge £80 for delivery. Please with this tv never get attached to the stand in the pictures as it comes with 3 different stands.The latest versions of the stand have just the one shelf as in Argos, but there are others that come with 3 shelves as in link I have provided (getting a little rare now), and also there is a pedestal trype stand out there somewhere, but these were only released for a short period of time and are very rare now.I ordered one a while ago expecting 3 shelves but it only came with one. But it's such a large tv one stand is quite ok.

Where is it available at 763?

23rd Aug 2006

Just remember its not an LCD TV (TFT) as suchIts a Rear Projection TV that used the 3 LCD systemjust to make sure that you dont compare them to LCD TVs

Original Poster23rd Aug 2006

Good or bad ?

24th Aug 2006

gribbler

Just remember its not an LCD TV (TFT) as suchIts a Rear Projection TV … Just remember its not an LCD TV (TFT) as suchIts a Rear Projection TV that used the 3 LCD systemjust to make sure that you dont compare them to LCD TVs

Hi Gribbler,

I'm interested to hear what the differences are in picture quality, resolution of picture and so on between let's say for arguments sake a 32" LCD TV and one of these 3LCD products, could you offer any pointers please (even if they're reviews or comparisons on external review sites). I've read quite a lot about these products on the Sony web-site and understood that these products can be compared with LCD products as they use 3LCDs as opposed to other LCD rear projection products that use one LCD only.

Where one of these products (or a 32" LCD TV) is intended for DVD Playback and hooking up to a desktop PC or a Mac do you recommend an LCD Panel as opposed to a 3LCD rear projection TV?.

Your comments would be appreciated.Thank you.

24th Aug 2006

Good, for the price. Just pop over to AV Forums and you will see how good these things are for the price. You can also get a Sagem 50" DLP, better picture quality but slightly more expensive. And according to feedback have a lot more build quality issues, that is why I opted for the Sony. And I am very very happy with it. A 50" monster cost me just over £950 delivered from EmpireDirect a few months ago, Oh and the link to the cheaper 50" Sony is here:secure.121electricals.com/det…12U

I have never used or heard of them but it's there on a price comparison search.

I have not been to Macro for a month or so but if anyone has access to Makro then they were selling for £799 + vat, to be honest it may have been £699 + vat I really can't remember. Now that is a bargain!!!

24th Aug 2006

SAFC1BeerMonster

Good, for the price. Just pop over to AV Forums and you will see how … Good, for the price. Just pop over to AV Forums and you will see how good these things are for the price. You can also get a Sagem 50" DLP, better picture quality but slightly more expensive. And according to feedback have a lot more build quality issues, that is why I opted for the Sony. And I am very very happy with it. A 50" monster cost me just over £950 delivered from EmpireDirect a few months ago, Oh and the link to the cheaper 50" Sony is here:]https://secure.121electricals.com/detail.asp/sku=KDFE50A12UI have never used or heard of them but it's there on a price comparison search.I have not been to Macro for a month or so but if anyone has access to Makro then they were selling for £799 + vat, to be honest it may have been £699 + vat I really can't remember. Now that is a bargain!!!

Hi SAFC1BeerMonster,

Thank you for your reply. I've heard of DLP but to be completely honest i'd not known what exactly this was. Guess that you can go on spending and spending on products like these but unfortunately there's a limit in available funds. Thought that the price that Argos are selling these for in their 6 Day Mega Deal promo was quite competitive particularly if they are offering a free 3-year warranty. For some reason or another i've convinced myself that this is an error on their web-site (even though they've not amended the 6 Day Mega Deal promo page to say otherwise (there's a Freeview PVR DVD/Hard Disk based product (out of stock everywhere that i've checked) that seems to have replaced the Navigon iCN-320 that was posted however that's the only change that i've noticed).

As you're the proud owner of one of these products could you please be kind enough to confirm whether or not this particular 3LCD TV is suitable for hooking up to a desktop PC or Mac for DVD Playback, general web-browsing, Word docs, web-page coding etc via DVI to HDMI adapter/lead or would you say that an LCD Panel is more suited?. Also, is the lamp considered to be a consumer replaceable item and, because of this considered not to be covered under the original manufacturers warranty (or retailers extended warranty if there is one)?. Think that the lamps are expensive to replace that's why i'd wanted to ask.

Another question (sorry to go on a little), the specification on several retailers web-sites including the web-site that you'd mentioned says that this item has a PC Input, are they referring to the HDMI interface or is there a seperate VGA or DVI input (don't think that there is but as you've already bought one of these you're in a better position to comment on this at a guess).

Am confused as to why some people are saying that this is not suitable for hooking up to a PC particularly as the specification says that this has a resolution of up to 1280x720pixels. Can you shed any light on this?. Perhaps this has got something to do with the vertical resolution as 1280x720pixels is not a standardized input but 1280x1024 (think that's the correct terminology to use but excuse me if it's not please).

Thank you.Best Regards.

24th Aug 2006

MacNewbieInTraining

Hi Gribbler,I'm interested to hear what the differences are in picture … Hi Gribbler,I'm interested to hear what the differences are in picture quality, resolution of picture and so on between let's say for arguments sake a 32" LCD TV and one of these 3LCD products, could you offer any pointers please (even if they're reviews or comparisons on external review sites). I've read quite a lot about these products on the Sony web-site and understood that these products can be compared with LCD products as they use 3LCDs as opposed to other LCD rear projection products that use one LCD only.Where one of these products (or a 32" LCD TV) is intended for DVD Playback and hooking up to a desktop PC or a Mac do you recommend an LCD Panel as opposed to a 3LCD rear projection TV?.Your comments would be appreciated.Thank you.

You really can't compare a 32" tv to a 50" no matter what technology it uses. After all a 50" viewing distance is recommended to be around 6-8' for high definition, around 12' for standard tv.

A 32" could well be used a desktop monitor to be honest.

I can only tell you my experience for this tv and no other as before this I had a 36" crt.

This tv is stunning for dvd playback, naturally at 720p as the tv has a natural resolution of 720, Xbox 360 is also stunning through component and easy to setup. As for Sky HD, I have not yet ordered it but I use standard Sky running via rgb through a gold plated scart lead from a viewing distance of between 9/13 feet, depending where I sit in the room, and I have not yet seen one single breakup in the digital connection. Viewing angles from left ot right are superb, as for vertical angles I can not really say as the tv is on it's stand at natural eyesight level.

As for PC hook up I have no idea, it does have a VGA input, and I suppose you could also connect via hdmi if you have the correct graphics card. But I suppose you would need a separate audio connection as vga does not carry sound.

For better advice I would suggest visiting avforums, here are two links all about this tv. Makes good reading mate and very worth while, I bought one and am impressed.

You really can't compare a 32" tv to a 50" no matter what technology it … You really can't compare a 32" tv to a 50" no matter what technology it uses. After all a 50" viewing distance is recommended to be around 6-8' for high definition, around 12' for standard tv.A 32" could well be used a desktop monitor to be honest.I can only tell you my experience for this tv and no other as before this I had a 36" crt.This tv is stunning for dvd playback, naturally at 720p as the tv has a natural resolution of 720, Xbox 360 is also stunning through component and easy to setup. As for Sky HD, I have not yet ordered it but I use standard Sky running via rgb through a gold plated scart lead from a viewing distance of between 9/13 feet, depending where I sit in the room, and I have not yet seen one single breakup in the digital connection. Viewing angles from left ot right are superb, as for vertical angles I can not really say as the tv is on it's stand at natural eyesight level.As for PC hook up I have no idea, it does have a VGA input, and I suppose you could also connect via hdmi if you have the correct graphics card. But I suppose you would need a separate audio connection as vga does not carry sound.For better advice I would suggest visiting avforums, here are two links all about this tv. Makes good reading mate and very worth while, I bought one and am impressed.]http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=253651]http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=249926

Hi SAFC1BeerMonster,

Thank you for your reply. Fair comment regarding not really being able to compare a 32" with a 50". Perhaps i'd not put my question across clearly, basically i'd wanted to know whether or not there was a difference in resolution/clarity between these two products and if let's say for arguments sake a 3LCD 50" was compared against a 50" LCD Panel (not sure if there is such a thing on the market although I think that Sharp do make massive panels whether or not 50" i'm not sure) is there any noticeable difference in picture quality between the two products.

DVD playback is what i'd want to use one of these products for mostly but i'd really like to know whether or not there's the possibility of hooking up a home-brew PC or Mac based PVR that can be used for general surfing the internet and so on.

AV Forums seems a very good site. Hopefully the answers will be on there.

Your comments regarding whether or not the lamp is a consumer replaceable item that is or is not covered by the manufacturers warranty or retailers extended warranty would be appreciated.

Thank you.Best Regards.

24th Aug 2006

The lamp on these items I think is covered for 5000 hours, it may even be more, some people say it is not covered under warranty but trust me if mine goes dull before 5000 hours I will ask for a free one, after all that is their minimum estimation.

And mate, your really need to spend a few hours browsing AV forums for this subject. A 50" LCD is just not really possible in todays price range, for 50"+ you really need to look at either 3lcd RP, DLP RP, or Plasma. The latter being very expensive and not much better for the money. For example you will be looking at double/treble even quadruple the price when it comes to plasma, so it really depends on your price range.

As I say spend a few hours researching AV forums, the guys over there really know their stuff and what makes it good is you also get the average Joe Bloggs like you and I telling of their first hand experience with each product so nothing is ever biased.

Hope this helps.

24th Aug 2006

Just on the comparison to plasma/lcd panel TVs. At the moment, other than the top end of the plasma market (£4k+), rear projection LCD systems tend to be the best available. Add to that the fact it's Sony, who've had a reasonable TV reputation for a long time, and it's a pretty damned good set/technology.

Longevity wise, I've had a Samsung 47" rear projection for 3 or 4 years and the lamp is fine. The great thing is that if I replace the lamp, I've got a 100% bright, just as good as new, TV. Unlike a plasma where once it's dull, it's for the scrapheap.

If only I had money lying around, I'd probably replace my set with this... I use the TV to show photos, they'd look great at this resolution!

Something odd about this TV though is that although it's "HD READY", no-where does it mention what inputs it has....?

24th Aug 2006

I've had one of these for about 8 mths now and it still impresses me worth every penny and I paid over £1600 for mine, Picture quality outstanding compared to a plasma colours are sharp and extremly quiet

24th Aug 2006

i saw one of these in Debenhams for 999 with 3 year guarentee! and im sure John Lewis have it too and as we all know they give 5 years on all tv's

24th Aug 2006

John Lewis are out of stock @ 995 - thing is that reports seem to be that the stock has dried up ready for discontinuing the line. However, the Argos one already has the 3 year warranty, so £100 cheaper than debenhams.

BTW, no reply back as to what the 763 price was above. However, it appears to be suspiciously like the standard Argos discount for some companies - royal mail etc.. essentially ex-VAT. Hmm, a mate of mine works for royal mail, tempting..

24th Aug 2006

Kallisti

Just on the comparison to plasma/lcd panel TVs. At the moment, other than … Just on the comparison to plasma/lcd panel TVs. At the moment, other than the top end of the plasma market (£4k+), rear projection LCD systems tend to be the best available. Add to that the fact it's Sony, who've had a reasonable TV reputation for a long time, and it's a pretty damned good set/technology.Longevity wise, I've had a Samsung 47" rear projection for 3 or 4 years and the lamp is fine. The great thing is that if I replace the lamp, I've got a 100% bright, just as good as new, TV. Unlike a plasma where once it's dull, it's for the scrapheap.If only I had money lying around, I'd probably replace my set with this... I use the TV to show photos, they'd look great at this resolution!Something odd about this TV though is that although it's "HD READY", no-where does it mention what inputs it has....?

Hi Kallisti, Thank you for your reply. A very interesting read IMHO. I'm pleased to hear that you've had good useage out of the bulb that's fitted to your Samsung 47" rear projection TV and that replacing the bulb basically results in the set being as good as new. I wasn't sure whether or not anything could be done to a plasma that'd started to go dull, a lot of money to spend on something that'd need to be put onto the scrapheap once the picture quality had deteriorated but I guess each technology has it's pro's and con's.

I'd be interested to hear whether or not the bulbs are covered under warranty as I understand that they're quite expensive to replace the same as AV Projection Units (prices could be coming down but I was told that they are very expensive to replace). Any idea's how much these bulbs cost to replace and where's the best place to source these?.

I'm glad to hear that you've confirmed that the resolution on the 3LCD sets are considered to be good. Am seriously considering buying one of these but am still unsure whether or not Argos have made an error on their web-site (knowing my luck they have done). An e-mail received from them this morning doesn't mention anything about a free 3-year warranty however the 6 Day Mega Deals page on their web-site remains unchanged as of this morning and clearly says that there's £100.00 off and a free 3-year warranty on this product.

Regarding the connectivity I understand that there's a HDMI connector and possibly a VGA for PC/Mac Input although I think that using a DVI to HDMI lead/adapter is a better option.

Found the spec' for a 42" model but not a 50" model. Guess that they're similar but it'd be nice to know whether or not there's a downloadable manual in PDF format somewhere on the internet.

Kind Regards.

24th Aug 2006

SAFC1BeerMonster

The lamp on these items I think is covered for 5000 hours, it may even be … The lamp on these items I think is covered for 5000 hours, it may even be more, some people say it is not covered under warranty but trust me if mine goes dull before 5000 hours I will ask for a free one, after all that is their minimum estimation.And mate, your really need to spend a few hours browsing AV forums for this subject. A 50" LCD is just not really possible in todays price range, for 50"+ you really need to look at either 3lcd RP, DLP RP, or Plasma. The latter being very expensive and not much better for the money. For example you will be looking at double/treble even quadruple the price when it comes to plasma, so it really depends on your price range.As I say spend a few hours researching AV forums, the guys over there really know their stuff and what makes it good is you also get the average Joe Bloggs like you and I telling of their first hand experience with each product so nothing is ever biased.Hope this helps.

Hi SAFC1BeerMonster,

Thank you for your reply. I think that i've not put my question across very well regarding comparing a 3LCD product against an LCD Panel. Basically i'd wanted to confirm that the resolution of a 3LCD product was good compared to an LCD Panel should such a sized panel be available on the market, no doubt it'd be very expensive. I think that this is a good buy from what i've read on hotukdeals and on the avforums that you'd mentioned. Shame Argos aren't clear regarding whether or not there's a free 3-year warranty with this product as their flyer and e-mail received this morning don't mention this only the £100.00 money off saving.

Kind Regards.

24th Aug 2006

I agree about this being a good buy but your view on plasma prices is a bit out of date guys.

Scan sell a 50inch hyundia plasma on their deal of the day regularly for 1295inc vat. it has a resolution of 1366x768.

The key downside to rear projection sets imho is their bulk.

This is the plasma model that regulary comes up. I think it was on deal of the day yesterday for example.

I agree about this being a good buy but your view on plasma prices is a … I agree about this being a good buy but your view on plasma prices is a bit out of date guys.Scan sell a 50inch hyundia plasma on their deal of the day regularly for 1295inc vat. it has a resolution of 1366x768.The key downside to rear projection sets imho is their bulk.This is the plasma model that regulary comes up. I think it was on deal of the day yesterday for example.]http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=225796

Hi Yoshi,

Thank you for your reply. Plasmas are undoubtedly a lot cheaper than they were let's say 12-months ago. eBuyer often post excellent deals on these products but what concerns me a lot is that the generic ones are the same as one's that Tin*.com customers have been experiencing a lot of problems with (might be wrong, like I say i'm a complete AV Newbie so could very well be barking up the wrong tree). Scan might be selling better kit I really don't know. Do plasma models consume a lot more power than LCD/3LCD products?. Are there any consumer replaceable parts on a plasma and does the picture decrade to such an extent that they need to be thrown away and a replacement unit bought?.

Rear projection models are generally bulky from what i've understood however I do not believe that this is the case with 3LCD products that Sony are manufacturing. Can anyone confirm this?. £1295 is considerably more expensive if you're on a tight budget like myself however I guess that some people prefer plasma screens over LCD/3LCD and vice versa.

Thank you.Kind Regards.

24th Aug 2006

Nearly bought one of these myself when they were on offer at makro recently, but was put off by the response time which is meant to be 16ms.

SAFC1BeerMonster:-

Do you notice any blurring on fast moving images? especially 360 games?

26th Aug 2006

Just to drag this up again.

Anybody know if argos's "3 year breakdown cover" would cover replacing the lamp / bulb if it gave up?